FARMERS LOOK TO GOVT TO AVERT RUIN

KWAZULU-Natal’s stricken farmers are waiting with “bated breath” for the government’s response to their financial predicament as the province’s multi-billion rand agricultural industry faces ruin following the extension of the foot-and-mouth disease zone. Pork, beef and diary farmers in the 20 000 square kilometre zone have been locked in meetings with government officials to try and determine what is at stake for them. The decision to extend the zone was taken pending the vaccination of more than three million animals to prevent further spread of the disease. The planned vaccination programme could mean a two-year ban on the export of cloven-hoofed animals and products from the control area.